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The best way to mount a camera for videotaping kite footage is, obviously, in the hand of a good friend. Ideally, said good friend knows a thing or two about kite flying and can anticipate the flier's moves. In reality, however, as evidenced by the majority of the movies posted, a non-intelligent, frequently stationary camera mount is much more frequently used. I have been trying to get some footage out of my GoPro 3 with a head strap. Judge for yourselves [Raw_Shaky_Footage_Alert]:

This was taken with the GoPro OEM head strap mount on my bare, short hair -- i.e., no hat to exaggerate head motion. [Lame_Excuse_Alert] Besides the fact that the wind was not exactly ideal [/Lame_Excuse_Alert], I am pretty sure many of us have taken similarly useless footage. Does anybody have a suggestion on a head mount, or a mount to any other body parts that is less prone to transmitting every single move that is inherent to flying a kite?

UNfortunately I don't think a better way exists. Mr tripod is still the best partner though he tends to limit your flying space and refuses to follow your kite at times. IMO the gopro is to clunky for filming kite flying and a camera like the Sony actoion cam, polaroid sports hd, kodak pixpro, midland xtc or even the pivot head sunglass cams would be better as far as balance goes. I'm saving up for a pivot head set up myself but my midland xtc with a visor clip or head band mount works well

I am not a fisherman, and so I have no real idea how big the camera is in relation to those lures. But I guess it is the sturdiness of the mount that matters more than the weight of the camera -- which I guess is in the same ballpark as the GoPro. Do you have any more details on that visor clip?

The xtc is small. Less than 3/4 wide and fits in the space of a credit card. Its limited in functions to sd/hd video but for the price it works well and has a ton of mounting options between the side clip and std tripod thread. Amazon has the visor clip for it. Wal mart stocks it usually if you want to see it first hand but not the visor clip.

A well-fitting helmet might go a long way to reduce the Blair Witch effect. I am guilty of making my audience queasy anyway: http://www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=8176.0. Since I am the only flier around here, though, wearing a helmet may appear to be overkill otherwise. A hat that keeps you warm is more advised in the current season.

@Anthony: Do you have footage taken with the midland xtc anywhere viewable? I'll check out WalMart.

You must have a pretty sophisticated tripod if it only refuses to track the kite "at times". Mine tends to not collaborate virtually all the time, no matter what reward I promise, or what penalty I threaten with.

I think your headstrap easily is the best head mount you can get. The cap mount will more than likely have just as much movement. Anything attached to your body will have movement. If it's on your head, wherever you look, the camera will follow. The bill of a cap will be further from your body will only exaggerate the motion on video, would a helmet mount. There is also a chest harness which may work better. You will see your arms, but your chest doesn't turn to look at the kite.

I think your headstrap easily is the best head mount you can get. The cap mount will more than likely have just as much movement. Anything attached to your body will have movement. If it's on your head, wherever you look, the camera will follow. The bill of a cap will be further from your body will only exaggerate the motion on video, would a helmet mount. There is also a chest harness which may work better. You will see your arms, but your chest doesn't turn to look at the kite.

It is not so much the horizontal head movement that concerns me, but the vertical twitching with virtually every input of my hands. Take a look at the video in the thread-starting post to see what I mean. Deliberate movement of the head is something you can control to a large extent, but movement of other body parts that gets transmitted to the camera is much harder to avoid. I agree with you that any cantilevers like the visor of a baseball cap will only exaggerate the issue.

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